Distributed computing on document formats

ABSTRACT

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a system includes at least one processor. The system partitions a document into a plurality of data blocks, wherein each data block comprises one or more complete logical units of the document. A plurality of sub-documents is produced from the plurality of data blocks. The sub-documents are processed in parallel by a plurality of processing elements. Embodiments of the present invention further include a method and computer program product for processing a document in parallel in substantially the same manner described above.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/223,293, entitled “DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING ON DOCUMENT FORMATS” andfiled Jul. 29, 2016, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Technical Field

Present invention embodiments relate to distributed computing, and morespecifically, to partitioning a document (e.g., with a document formatincompatible with size boundaries, etc.) enabling parallel processing ofthe document by a distributed computing environment.

Discussion of the Related Art

The introduction of map/reduce computing and the HADOOP platform hascreated an environment where massive amounts of very large files can beefficiently stored and processed on commodity hardware in a short periodof time. Files in the HADOOP File System (HDFS) are decomposed intosmaller blocks (64 Megabytes by default), where each block can be storedon one or more storage nodes of the HADOOP platform. When a document isprocessed, the map/reduce algorithm is most efficient when each block ofdata can be processed individually, or at least be split into smallerlogical units. Common processing includes analytics and full textsearch. A key requirement for this approach to work efficiently is thatthe files can be decomposed into smaller objects (or splits) to enablemultiple computing nodes to be leveraged to process the work load. Thisapproach works well when the files are text and/or records based sinceeach split can be worked on independently. However, when certain othertypes of files are introduced (e.g., PDF, AFP, LINE, WORD, etc.), theindividual blocks representing the file must be combined before furtherprocessing can occur, and the file can only be processed by one map taskor computing node.

SUMMARY

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a system includesat least one processor. The system partitions a document into aplurality of data blocks, wherein each data block comprises one or morecomplete logical units of the document. A plurality of sub-documents isproduced from the plurality of data blocks. The sub-documents areprocessed in parallel by a plurality of processing elements. Embodimentsof the present invention further include a method and computer programproduct for processing a document in parallel in substantially the samemanner described above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Generally, like reference numerals in the various figures are utilizedto designate like components.

FIG. 1A is a diagrammatic illustration of an example computingenvironment for use with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1B is a diagrammatic illustration of an example distributedcomputing cluster of the environment of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of storage of an example documentamong the processing nodes of the distributed computing cluster of FIG.1B.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic illustration of assignment of an exampledocument partitioned on byte boundaries to a single task.

FIG. 4 is a procedural flowchart of a manner of partitioning an exampledocument stored according to FIG. 2 for assignment to parallel tasksaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic illustration of partitioning an exampledocument for assignment to parallel tasks according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 6 is a procedural flow chart of a manner of partitioning a complexdocument for parallel processing according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an example Portable Document Format (PDF)document.

FIG. 8 is a procedural flow chart of a manner of extracting resourcesfrom the PDF document of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the PDF document of FIG. 7 with resourcesextracted in accordance with the manner of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a procedural flow chart of an alternative manner ofpartitioning a complex document for parallel processing according to anembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Present invention embodiments enable parallel processing (e.g., via amap/reduce framework) of large files. In conventional implementations,each of the stored data blocks of a large file are transferred to asingle node, combined, and subsequently processed. This could requirenumerous data transfers over a network, and large amounts of physicalmemory to host the large file. However, present invention embodimentstransform each stored data block of file data into a stand-alonedocument (or sub-document) in the format of the original file. Eachstand-alone document (or sub-document) is assigned to a differentparallel task or node (e.g., a map task), thereby enabling parallelprocessing of the original file.

An example computing environment for use with present inventionembodiments is illustrated in FIG. 1A. Specifically, the computingenvironment includes a distributed computing cluster 10, and one or moreclient or end-user systems 14. Distributed computing cluster 10 andclient systems 14 may be remote from each other and communicate over anetwork 12. The network may be implemented by any number of any suitablecommunications media (e.g., wide area network (WAN), local area network(LAN), Internet, Intranet, etc.). Alternatively, distributed computingcluster 10 and client systems 14 may be local to each other, andcommunicate via any appropriate local communication medium (e.g., localarea network (LAN), hardwire, wireless link, Intranet, etc.).

Client systems 14 enable users to submit processing requests todistributed computing cluster 10 to determine various information (e.g.,analytics and full text search of documents, etc.). The client systemsmay present a graphical user (e.g., GUI, etc.) or other interface (e.g.,command line prompts, menu screens, etc.) to solicit information fromusers pertaining to the desired processing requests, documents, and/oranalysis, and may provide reports including results of the processingrequests (e.g., analytics, text searching, etc.).

Client systems 14 may be implemented by any conventional or othercomputer systems preferably equipped with a display or monitor, a base(e.g., including at least one processor 15, one or more memories 35and/or internal or external network interfaces or communications devices25 (e.g., modem, network cards, etc.)), optional input devices (e.g., akeyboard, mouse or other input device), and any commercially availableand custom software (e.g., browser/interface software, one or moreapplications providing requests for the distributed computing cluster,etc.).

Referring to FIG. 1B, distributed computing cluster 10 includes acontrol node 100, and one or more processing nodes 150. Control node 100controls processing nodes 150 to perform data storage and computingoperations to process requests from client systems 14. Control node 100and processing nodes 150 may be remote from each other and communicateover a network 125. The network may be implemented by any number of anysuitable communications media (e.g., wide area network (WAN), local areanetwork (LAN), Internet, Intranet, etc.), and may be the same ordifferent network than network 12 (FIG. 1A). Alternatively, control node100 and processing nodes 150 may be local to each other, and communicatevia any appropriate local communication medium (e.g., local area network(LAN), hardwire, wireless link, Intranet, etc.).

Distributed computing cluster 10 preferably implements a distributedfile system and a map/reduce framework. However, the distributedcomputing cluster may include any file system and implement any suitableframework for distributed or parallel processing.

The map/reduce framework processes large data sets in parallel, andemploys a map function on processing nodes (e.g., on processing nodes150) to process, in parallel based on a corresponding key value, inputdata initially assigned to the processing nodes. Data is re-distributedamong the processing nodes based on output keys of the map function,where data common to an output key is assigned to a same processing nodefor further processing. A reduce function on the processing nodesprocesses the assigned output data from the map function in parallelbased on the output keys, where the output of these reduce functions iscollected and organized by the output key to provide the resultingoutput.

For example, a map/reduce framework may be employed to determine a countof words in a set of documents. Each document may be initially assignedto a corresponding processing node and map function. Each map function(in parallel) processes the assigned document from the set of documentsand produces a list with entries including an output key value (e.g.,the identified word, w) and a count value (e.g., of 1) (e.g., an entrymay be represented as [word, 1]). The map/reduce framework groupsentries from all of the resulting lists with the same key (e.g., eachgroup pertains to the same word), and assigns each group to acorresponding processing node and reduce function. Each reduce function(in parallel) basically sums the word count values of entries in theassigned group to determine the total occurrences of the associated wordin the set of documents.

Control node 100 includes data control modules 116 and processingcontrol modules 120. Data control modules 116 control operations for thedistributed file system implemented among processing nodes 150. The datacontrol modules may manage a file system namespace (e.g., opening,closing and renaming files and directories, etc.), regulate access tofiles by client systems 14, and determine mappings of file data blocksto processing nodes 150 for storage of files.

Processing control modules 120 control processing of requests fromclient systems 14 within the distributed computing cluster (e.g.,map/reduce framework). The processing control modules perform variousoperations, including managing job scheduling across nodes. For example,the processing control modules may provide work to processing nodes 150in response to submission of jobs (e.g., map/reduce jobs) to thedistributed computing cluster by clients. The requests, document data,and any other information may be stored within a memory of control node100. The memory may be implemented by any conventional or other storageunit.

Each processing node 150 includes data storage modules 152 andprocessing modules 154. The data storage modules perform variousoperations for the distributed file system, including processing readand write requests for the distributed file system, and performing datablock operations received from control node 100 (e.g., create, delete,and replicate data blocks, etc.). The intermediate results, documentdata, data blocks, and any other information may be stored within amemory of processing node 150. The memory may be implemented by anyconventional or other storage unit.

Processing modules 154 perform the processing for jobs (e.g., map/reducejobs for the map/reduce framework) assigned from control node 100. Thisprocessing may include dividing input into appropriate sized partitionsor splits, assigning the partitions to parallel tasks (e.g., map tasks),shuffling the output of the parallel tasks (e.g., map tasks) among theprocessing nodes, and allocating the output to corresponding tasks(e.g., reduce tasks) to produce the output for the jobs.

Accordingly, data control modules 116 and data storage modules 152 mayimplement the functions of the distributed file system, while processingcontrol modules 120 and processing modules 154 may implement thefunctions of the map/reduce or other distributed computing framework. Byway of example, distributed computing cluster 10 may be implemented by aHADOOP platform with a HADOOP Distributed File System (HDFS). In thisexample case, data control modules 116 and data storage modules 152implement the functions of the HADOOP Distributed File System (HDFS),while processing control modules 120 and processing modules 154implement the functions of the HADOOP platform (e.g., including aMap/Reduce Engine for processing HADOOP Map/Reduce jobs).

Processing modules 154 of processing nodes 150 further include a blockmodule 156. The block module receives blocks of data for a file storedin the distributed file system of processing nodes 150, and transformseach stored block of file data into a stand-alone document (orsub-document) in the format of the original file according toembodiments of the present invention. Each stand-alone document (orsub-document) is assigned to a different parallel task or processingnode 150 (e.g., a map task), thereby enabling parallel processing of theoriginal file. Block module 156 may further be included within datastorage modules 152 of processing nodes 150 to intelligently partition afile for storage in the distributed file system for parallel processingas described below.

Control node 100 and processing nodes 150 may be implemented by anyconventional or other computer systems (e.g., server computer systems,etc.), preferably equipped with a display or monitor, a base (e.g.,including at least one processor 15, one or more memories 35 and/orinternal or external network interfaces or communications devices 25(e.g., modem, network cards, etc.)), optional input devices (e.g., akeyboard, mouse or other input device), and any commercially availableand custom software (e.g., server/communications software, data controlmodules, processing control modules, data storage modules, processingmodules, block module, etc.).

The modules (e.g., data control modules, processing control modules,data storage modules, processing modules, block module, etc.) mayinclude one or more modules or units to perform the various functions ofpresent invention embodiments described below. The various modules(e.g., data control modules, processing control modules, data storagemodules, processing modules, block module, etc.) may be implemented byany combination of any quantity of software and/or hardware modules orunits, and may reside within memory 35 of the control and/or processingnodes for execution by a corresponding processor 15.

A manner of partitioning a file into data blocks for storage in thedistributed file system among processing nodes 150 is illustrated, byway of example, in FIG. 2. Initially, a file or document 200 ispartitioned into data blocks 205 based on a specific quantity of data(e.g., specific bit or byte boundary) (e.g., 64M or 64 Megabytes). Forexample, the file may be examined and each portion containing thespecific quantity of data (e.g., 64M) is placed in a corresponding datablock 205. The data blocks 205 are each assigned to and stored in acorresponding processing node 150. For example, file 200 may bepartitioned into data blocks 205 each containing 64M of file data,where: processing node 150(1) may be assigned and store three datablocks 205; processing nodes 150(2) and 150(3) may each be assigned andstore two data blocks 205; and processing node 150(4) may be assignedand store one data block 205 (as viewed in FIG. 2).

When an operation or job (e.g., map/reduce job) is to be performed, thefile is retrieved (e.g., the data blocks among the processing nodes areretrieved), and the data blocks 205 are assigned to parallel tasks asillustrated in FIG. 3. In the case of documents that can be partitionedat virtually any location (e.g., text or record based documents that canbe partitioned on uniform or other size (e.g., bit or byte) boundaries),the data blocks may be assigned to different parallel tasks (e.g., maptasks) or processing nodes. However, for documents that have a specificstructure or schema for document components (e.g., and cannot beefficiently partitioned on specific size (e.g., bit or byte)boundaries), the partitioning does not lend itself to parallelization.Rather, data blocks 205 are retrieved from processing nodes 150, andplaced in a common group 305 to re-create (or represent) the entiredocument. The common group or entire document is assigned to a singletask 310 or processing node. Thus, all the data blocks for the documentare retrieved and assigned to a single node, where they are combined tore-create the document and assigned to a single task (e.g., map task)which creates one unit of processing. This provides for a singleprocessing node 150 to process the entire document, thereby losing theadvantages of parallel processing.

A manner of partitioning a file or document to enable parallelprocessing of the document according to an embodiment of the presentinvention embodiment (e.g., via processing module 154, block module 156,and a processing node 150) is illustrated in FIG. 4. Initially, a fileor document with components of a specific structure (e.g., a file ordocument that cannot be efficiently partitioned on specific size (e.g.,bit, byte, etc.) boundaries) is received and stored in the distributedfile system of distributed computing cluster 10 as described above (FIG.2). Examples of such files include: Portable Document Format (PDF),MICROSOFT WORD, LINE, Advanced Function Presentation (AFP), XML, HTML,etc.). Data blocks for the file are initially formed based on a specificquantity of data (e.g., size (e.g., bit or byte) boundary), and storedamong processing nodes 150. For example, the data block size may be 64Megabytes (e.g., 64M by default). Thus, a file of size 1 Gigabyte (1G)requires sixteen 64M data blocks.

An operation or job (e.g., map/reduce job) on the file is received(e.g., from a client system 14) for processing. The data blockscontaining the file are initially retrieved from the distributed filesystem of processing nodes 150 for arrangement and assignment toparallel tasks (e.g., map tasks). A data block is initially examined todetermined whether the data block has been partitioned on a desiredlogical boundary (e.g., a page, etc.) at step 405. This may beaccomplished by comparing the data of the data block to informationwithin a schema for the document. The schema may indicate theidentifiers (e.g., headers, fields, indicators, etc.) within a documentdesignating boundaries for logical units or sections (e.g., page, line,document component structures, etc.). For example, a schema for anAdvanced Function Presentation (AFP) document may indicate theidentifiers (e.g., headers, fields, indicators, etc.) for the logicalunits of a page (e.g., BPG and EPG fields, etc.) and/or line that may beused for the partitions. The document and corresponding schemas mayrelate to any desired documents to enable parallel processing of thosedocuments (e.g., PDF, LINE, AFP, MS WORD, XML, HTML, etc.).

The data within the data block is compared to information within theschema for the document to identify boundaries for the various logicalunits (or sections) within the document, and determine whether apartition has occurred within a logical unit. If the data block has notbeen partitioned on the desired logical boundary (e.g., has beenpartitioned within a logical unit (e.g., the data block contains anincomplete logical unit where one or more remaining portions of thelogical unit reside on other data blocks)), the remaining portioncompleting the logical unit is extracted from a succeeding data blockstored among processing nodes 150 at step 415. The extracted portion isadded to the end of the data block being processed at step 420 tocomplete the logical unit and enable the data block to be partitioned ona logical boundary (e.g., page, etc.).

However, the data may be shifted in any manner to either prior orsucceeding data blocks to complete a logical unit (e.g., data from asucceeding data block may be appended to a prior data block to completea logical unit as described above, data from a prior data block may beinserted into a succeeding data block to complete a logical unit, datablock content may be shifted or adjusted in any manner, etc.). Moreover,data may be retrieved from any quantity of other (succeeding orpreceding) data blocks to complete logical units.

Further, the quantity and size (or storage capacity) of the data blocksmay vary based on the desired amount of parallel processing. Forexample, an optimal processing arrangement may include one data blockfor each processing node. In this case, the quantity of data blocks maybe equal to the quantity of processing nodes, and the size of the datablocks may be equal to the size of the document divided by the quantityof processing nodes (e.g., data block size=(size of document/quantity ofprocessing nodes)). By way of example, a distributed computing clusterof 10 nodes may employ ten data blocks each of 1 Megabyte for processingin parallel a 10 Megabyte document (e.g., block size of 1M=document sizeof 10M/10 processing nodes). However, the quantity and size of the datablocks may be any desired values suitable for a particular activity.

The shifting of data between the data blocks to complete a logical unitmay exceed the data block size by a predetermined or threshold amount(e.g., a specific quantity, a percentage of the size of the data block,etc.) in order to complete a logical unit within a data block. Further,the data block size may be regulated, where data is shifted between datablocks in a manner enabling each data block to be within a predeterminedor threshold amount (e.g., a specific quantity, a percentage of the sizeof the data block, etc.) of a specified data block size.

Once the data block is processed and partitioned on a logical boundary(e.g., either altered based on the above modification or was alreadyresiding in this state), the data block is written in the format of theoriginal source file stored in the distributed file system at step 425to produce a new stand-alone document (or sub-document) for assignmentto parallel tasks.

The presence of additional data blocks for the file is determined atstep 430, and the process is repeated for the remaining data blocks(e.g., including those that have been altered by shifting of data). Forexample, during the partitioning phase (e.g., dividing input intoappropriate sized partitions or splits) for processing an operation orjob (e.g., map/reduce job), first and second data blocks of a file areopened. A first logical unit (e.g., page, etc.) of the second data blockwas “chopped” during data block storage with portions of that logicalunit extending from the end of the first data block into an initialportion of the second data block. The first logical unit of the seconddata block is moved to the end of the first data block to create acomplete logical unit (e.g., page, etc.). The first data block iswritten in the format of the original source file stored in thedistributed file system to produce a new stand-alone document (orsub-document). This new document is assigned to a first parallel task(e.g. a first map task).

The quantity of data blocks may vary in any manner based on the shiftingof data to complete logical units. For example, the quantity of datablocks may increase (e.g., in case of a logical unit being stored in anew data block due to the shifting) or decrease (e.g., in case of anempty data block due to extraction of all data of that data block by theshifting)).

Once the data blocks have been processed, each data block is astand-alone document (or sub-document) and assigned (e.g., by themap/reduce framework) for processing by a separate parallel task (e.g.,map task) at step 435. Further, not all data blocks need to be retrievedand provided to a corresponding processing node. Each processing nodealready containing data blocks for the requested document can performprocessing on the local data blocks with each processing node onlyhaving to retrieve additional data blocks most likely from one otherprocessing node.

An example of the approach of present invention embodiments applied to adocument is illustrated in FIG. 5. By way of example, a file 200 (FIG.2) may include a document in the Advanced Function Presentation (AFP)format with a desired logical unit of a page. A page is denoted in theAFP format by a begin page (BPG) structured field and an end page (EPG)structured field.

Initially, file 200 may be partitioned into data blocks 205 eachcontaining 64M of file data as described above (FIG. 2), where:processing node 150(1) may be assigned and store three data blocks 205;processing nodes 150(2) and 150(3) may each be assigned and store twodata blocks 205; and processing node 150(4) may be assigned and storeone data block 205 (as viewed in FIG. 5). File 200 is received inresponse to processing an operation or job (e.g., map/reduce job), wheredata blocks 205 are assigned to a common group 305 as described above.The data blocks in the group are examined, and the partition boundariesare shifted in the file to partition the file (or document) into aplurality of data blocks each comprising one or more complete logicalunits of the document. For example, when the file is partitioned betweenthe BPG and EPG fields of a page in the document, the BPG field portionresides in a first corresponding data block and the remaining portion,including the EPG field, resides in a subsequent data block. Once a datablock is examined and determined to be partitioned within the page, thesubsequent data block is retrieved to locate the first EPG field(corresponding to the BPG field of the processed data block). Thelocated EPG field and all prior data in the subsequent data block areextracted and appended to the end of the data block being processed.This enables a full text extraction to occur on the subsequent datablock. The partition boundary is effectively shifted to create amodified data block 500. The modified data block is written in theformat of file 200 to produce a new stand-alone document (orsub-document) 505(1). Each of the data blocks 205 of common group 305 isprocessed in substantially the same manner, and new stand-alonedocuments (or sub-documents) 505(1)-505(8) are produced. The stand-alonedocuments are created from the partitions or splits, where eachstand-alone document (or partition) is assigned (e.g., by the map/reduceframework) to a corresponding parallel task (e.g., map task)510(1)-510(8) for parallel processing of the document.

There is a tradeoff between an amount of time to create stand-alonedocuments from each data block and the amount of time to process thefile as one entity. Some document data types (e.g., non-sequential,etc.) may require additional or complex processing for partitioning of adocument into stand-alone documents (or sub-documents). Accordingly,these types of documents may not attain the benefit from creation andprocessing of stand-alone documents (of the same type). For example,Portable Document Format (PDF) and other document data types may requirespecial processing including retrieval of the entire document content.

However, it may still be beneficial to decompose or partition thesetypes of documents (e.g., non-sequential, etc.) into smaller units(e.g., pages, etc.) of work to attain the advantages of parallelprocessing. A manner of processing these types of complex documents intostand-alone documents (e.g., via processing module 154, block module156, and a processing node 150) according to an embodiment of thepresent invention is illustrated in FIG. 6. By way of example, thetechnique is described with reference to a PDF document. However, thetechnique may be employed for other documents in substantially the samemanner described below.

In particular, resources of an example PDF document are initiallyextracted at step 605. For example, a PDF document or file contains anobject table and references to shared objects (e.g., fonts, images,etc.) throughout the file. Referring to FIG. 7, an example PDF document700 includes a collection of records. A record may be an individualdocument with a collection of data fields. The records may requireindividual access, and may share common characteristics or objects(e.g., images, fonts, logos at the same location of each page, etc.).

Shared resources may reduce the size of a PDF document. For example, acertain logo may appear in multiple locations in the document and berepresented by a shared resource. A single image of the logo may besaved (instead of multiple images) for each location in which the logoappears. Locations within the PDF document that typically receive a copyof the image may include a pointer to the shared resource. Thus, theshared resource is referenced by one or more resource pointersassociated with the records. By way of example, PDF document 700includes a plurality of records 704 a, 704 b, and 704 c and a sharedresource 706. Each record 704 a, 704 b, and 704 c includes acorresponding resource pointer 702 a, 702 b, and 702 c to sharedresource 706 that includes content 710.

A manner of extracting resources from PDF document 700 (e.g., step 605of FIG. 6) is illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9. Initially, PDF document 700is scanned for a shared resource 706 at step 804. The PDF documentincludes a plurality of records 704 a, 704 b, and 704 c as describedabove. Shared resource 706 is a common resource initially referenced byresource pointers 702 a, 702 b, and 702 c of corresponding records 704a, 704 b, and 704 c. Shared resource 706 is copied to a resource group914 (FIG. 9) associated with the PDF document at step 806, and a linkbetween content 710 for shared resource 706 and resource pointers 702 a,702 b, and 702 c of records 704 a, 704 b, and 704 c is severed at step808. The severance of the link may be accomplished by modifying orre-directing resource pointers 702 a, 702 b, and 702 c to form referencepointers 920 a, 920 b, and 920 c that point to copied shared resource916 in resource group 914 (FIG. 9). Individual records 704 a, 704 b, and704 c may subsequently be extracted from the PDF document, where theextracted records lack content for the shared resource.

Referring back to FIG. 6, once the resources are extracted from the PDFdocument at step 605, the PDF document is subsequently partitioned onsize (e.g., bit, byte, etc.) boundaries at step 610. The data blocks areprocessed to form stand-alone documents (or sub-documents) for parallelprocessing at step 615. This may be accomplished by processing the datablocks in substantially the same manner described above for FIG. 4 toshift the boundaries of the data blocks and form the stand-alonedocuments (or sub-documents). For example, a data block is compared toinformation within a schema (e.g., the resulting PDF documentarrangement) for the PDF document to identify boundaries for the variouslogical units (e.g., pages, etc.) within the PDF document, and determinewhether a partition has occurred within a logical unit. If the datablock has not been partitioned on the desired logical boundary (e.g.,has been partitioned within a logical unit), the remaining portioncompleting the logical unit may be extracted from a succeeding datablock as described above (e.g., step 415). The extracted portion may beadded to the end of the data block being processed (e.g., step 420) tocomplete the logical unit and enable the data block to be partitioned ona logical boundary (e.g., page, etc.) as described above. However, datamay be retrieved from any quantity of other (succeeding or preceding)data blocks to complete logical units as described above.

Once the data block is processed and partitioned on a logical boundary,the data block is written in the format of the original source file(e.g., PDF) to produce a new stand-alone document (or sub-document) forassignment to parallel tasks (e.g., step 425) as described above. In thecase of a PDF document, additional byte manipulation may be performedwithin the stand-alone document (e.g., according to PDF formatting) toensure the stand-alone document is a valid PDF document. This mayinclude rebuilding portions of the object table.

Once the data blocks have been processed, each data block is astand-alone PDF document (or sub-document) and assigned (e.g., by themap/reduce framework) for processing by a separate parallel task (e.g.,map task) at step 620.

Alternatively, the PDF document may be initially partitioned in a mannerfacilitating parallel processing (e.g., via data storage module 154,block module 156, and a processing node 150) according to anotherembodiment of the present invention as illustrated in FIG. 10. Thisapproach requires processing during storage to intelligently form theinitial data blocks. Although this approach increases processing oningestion of the data, processing is reduced for parallel processing oftasks.

In particular, resources are initially extracted from the PDF documentat step 1005 in substantially the same manner described above (e.g., forFIGS. 7-9). The PDF document is subsequently partitioned to form thedata blocks at step 1010. Each data block is a stand-alone document (orsub-document) suitable for parallel processing. This may be accomplishedby initially partitioning the document (e.g., based on the approximatedata block size for the distributed file system), and processing thepartitions in substantially the same manner described above for FIG. 4to shift the boundaries of the partitions and form data blocks with thestand-alone documents (or sub-documents). For example, a partition iscompared to information within a schema (e.g., the resulting PDFdocument arrangement) for the PDF document to identify boundaries forthe various logical units (e.g., pages, etc.) within the PDF document,and determine whether a partition has occurred within a logical unit. Ifthe partition has not occurred on the desired logical boundary (e.g.,resides within a logical unit), the remaining portion completing thelogical unit may be extracted from a succeeding partition as describedabove (e.g., step 415). The extracted portion may be added to the end ofthe partition being processed (e.g., step 420) to complete the logicalunit and form a data block partitioned on a logical boundary (e.g.,page, etc.) as described above. However, data may be retrieved from anyquantity of other (succeeding or preceding) partitions to completelogical units as described above. The data is shifted between partitionsin a manner enabling each formed data block to be within a predeterminedor threshold amount (e.g., a specific quantity, a percentage of the sizeof the data block, etc.) of a specified data block size.

Once the data block is formed on a logical boundary, the data block iswritten in the format of the original source file (e.g., PDF) to producea new stand-alone document (or sub document) (e.g., step 425) asdescribed above. In the case of a PDF document, additional bytemanipulation may be performed within the stand-alone document (e.g.,according to PDF formatting) to ensure the stand-alone document is avalid PDF document. This may include rebuilding portions of the objecttable.

Once the data blocks have been formed (e.g., where each data block is astand-alone PDF document), the data blocks are stored in the distributedfile system among processing nodes 150 at step 1015. When an operationor job (e.g., map/reduce job) is received for the PDF document, the datablocks are retrieved from the distributed file system. Since the datablocks are already in the form of stand-alone documents, they can beassigned to the processing nodes for parallel processing according tothe distributed computing (e.g., map/reduce) framework. If the PDFdocument is retrieved for viewing, the document is re-assembled from thedata blocks (as opposed to concatenation).

Present invention embodiments may be employed for documents of variousdata types, including those (e.g., with structured components, etc.)that are not able to be partitioned on size (e.g., bit, byte, etc.)boundaries (e.g., PDF, MS WORD, LINE, AFP, etc.). Parallel processing ofthese types of documents (e.g., documents that are not able to bepartitioned on size boundaries) becomes extremely difficult, if notimpossible, Accordingly, present invention embodiments enable thesetypes of documents to be intelligently partitioned in a manner to takeadvantage of parallel processing and enhance computing performance.

It will be appreciated that the embodiments described above andillustrated in the drawings represent only a few of the many ways ofimplementing embodiments for performing distributed computing ondocument formats.

The environment of the present invention embodiments may include anynumber of computer or other processing systems (e.g., client or end-usersystems, server systems, nodes, etc.) and file systems or otherrepositories arranged in any desired fashion, where the presentinvention embodiments may be applied to any desired type of computingenvironment (e.g., cloud computing, client-server, network computing,mainframe, etc.). The computer or other processing systems employed bythe present invention embodiments may be implemented by any number ofany personal or other type of computer or processing system (e.g.,desktop, laptop, PDA, mobile devices, servers, etc.), and may includeany commercially available operating system and any combination ofcommercially available and custom software (e.g., browser software,communications software, server software, client applications, datacontrol modules, processing control modules, data storage modules,processing modules, block module, etc.). These systems may include anytypes of monitors and input devices (e.g., keyboard, mouse, voicerecognition, etc.) to enter and/or view information.

It is to be understood that the software (e.g., data control modules,processing control modules, data storage modules, processing modules,block module, etc.) of the present invention embodiments may beimplemented in any desired computer language and could be developed byone of ordinary skill in the computer arts based on the functionaldescriptions contained in the specification and flow charts illustratedin the drawings. Further, any references herein of software performingvarious functions generally refer to computer systems or processorsperforming those functions under software control. The computer systemsof the present invention embodiments may alternatively be implemented byany type of hardware and/or other processing circuitry.

The various functions of the computer or other processing systems may bedistributed in any manner among any number of software and/or hardwaremodules or units, processing or computer systems and/or circuitry, wherethe computer or processing systems may be disposed locally or remotelyof each other and communicate via any suitable communications medium(e.g., LAN, WAN, Intranet, Internet, hardwire, modem connection,wireless, etc.). For example, the functions of the present inventionembodiments may be distributed in any manner among the variousend-user/client and server systems, and/or any other intermediaryprocessing devices. The software and/or algorithms described above andillustrated in the flow charts may be modified in any manner thataccomplishes the functions described herein. In addition, the functionsin the flow charts or description may be performed in any order thataccomplishes a desired operation.

The software of the present invention embodiments (e.g., data controlmodules, processing control modules, data storage modules, processingmodules, block module, etc.) may be available on a non-transitorycomputer useable medium (e.g., magnetic or optical mediums,magneto-optic mediums, floppy diskettes, CD-ROM, DVD, memory devices,etc.) of a stationary or portable program product apparatus or devicefor use with stand-alone systems or systems connected by a network orother communications medium.

The communication network may be implemented by any number of any typeof communications network (e.g., LAN, WAN, Internet, Intranet, VPN,etc.). The computer or other processing systems of the present inventionembodiments may include any conventional or other communications devicesto communicate over the network via any conventional or other protocols.The computer or other processing systems may utilize any type ofconnection (e.g., wired, wireless, etc.) for access to the network.Local communication media may be implemented by any suitablecommunication media (e.g., local area network (LAN), hardwire, wirelesslink, Intranet, etc.).

The system may employ any number of any conventional or other databases,data stores, file systems, or storage units (e.g., files, databases,data structures, data or other repositories, distributed or other filesystems, etc.) to store information (e.g., files, documents, datablocks, intermediate results, etc.). The storage units may beimplemented by any number of any conventional or other databases, datastores or storage structures (e.g., files, databases, data structures,data or other repositories, etc.) to store information (e.g., documents,data blocks, intermediate results, etc.). The storage units may beincluded within or coupled to the server and/or client systems. Thestorage units may be remote from or local to the computer or otherprocessing systems, and may store any desired data.

The present invention embodiments may employ any number of any type ofuser interface (e.g., Graphical User Interface (GUI), command-line,prompt, etc.) for obtaining or providing information (e.g., desiredprocessing requests, documents, analysis, etc.), where the interface mayinclude any information arranged in any fashion. The interface mayinclude any number of any types of input or actuation mechanisms (e.g.,buttons, icons, fields, boxes, links, etc.) disposed at any locations toenter/display information and initiate desired actions via any suitableinput devices (e.g., mouse, keyboard, etc.). The interface screens mayinclude any suitable actuators (e.g., links, tabs, etc.) to navigatebetween the screens in any fashion.

The report may include any information arranged in any fashion, and maybe configurable based on rules or other criteria to provide desiredinformation to a user (e.g., results of the processing requests,analytics, text searching, etc.).

The present invention embodiments are not limited to the specific tasksor algorithms described above, but may be utilized for partitioning anytypes of files or documents in a manner enabling distributed or parallelprocessing on any type of distributed computing framework (e.g.map/reduce, etc.). The data blocks may be of any quantity, and containany desired amount of any types of data. The documents may be of anydesired format (e.g., text based, record based, structured or includingstructured components, compatible or incompatible with specific sizepartition boundaries, PDF, MS WORD, AFP, LINE, HTML, XML, etc.). Thetechnique of present invention embodiments may be applied to partitionany quantity of files or documents for parallel processing.

The partitioning may be based on any desired logical boundary (includingany quantity of logical units) (e.g., page, line, paragraph, structuredcomponent, plural ones of these items, etc.). Any amount of data may beshifted between data blocks (or partitions) in any manner to eitherprior or succeeding data blocks (or partitions) to complete a logicalboundary (e.g., data from a succeeding data block (or partition) may beappended to a prior data block (or partition) to complete a logicalboundary, data from a prior data block (or partition) may be insertedinto a succeeding data block (or partition) to complete a logicalboundary, etc.). Moreover, any quantity of data may be retrieved fromany quantity of other (succeeding or preceding) data blocks (orpartitions) to complete a logical boundary.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”,“comprising”, “includes”, “including”, “has”, “have”, “having”, “with”and the like, when used in this specification, specify the presence ofstated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/orcomponents, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or moreother features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components,and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of the present invention has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and the practical application, and to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product at any possible technical detail level of integration.The computer program product may include a computer readable storagemedium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereonfor causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, configuration data for integrated circuitry, oreither source code or object code written in any combination of one ormore programming languages, including an object oriented programminglanguage such as Smalltalk, C++, or the like, and procedural programminglanguages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programminglanguages. The computer readable program instructions may executeentirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as astand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partlyon a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. Inthe latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user'scomputer through any type of network, including a local area network(LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to anexternal computer (for example, through the Internet using an InternetService Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including,for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gatearrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute thecomputer readable program instructions by utilizing state information ofthe computer readable program instructions to personalize the electroniccircuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of theorder noted in the Figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: partitioning a document intoa plurality of data blocks of equal number of bits and storing theplurality of data blocks across a plurality of processing elements of adistributed file system; in response to determining that one or moredata blocks are not partitioned on a boundary of complete logical unitsof the document, adjusting the one or more data blocks of the pluralityof data blocks to comprise one or more complete logical units of thedocument, wherein at least one data block of the one or more data blocksis adjusted by removing data from an adjacent data block that is storedon a different processing element from the processing element of the atleast one data block, transferring, via a network, the data from thedifferent processing element of the adjacent data block to theprocessing element of the at least one data block, and inserting thedata into the at least one data block to result in the at least one datablock including one or more complete logical units; producing aplurality of sub-documents from the plurality of data blocks includingthe one or more adjusted data blocks, wherein each sub-document is astand-alone document that is formatted in a format of the document; andprocessing the plurality of sub-documents in parallel by a plurality ofprocessing elements.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the documentincludes a format unable to be partitioned based on a size boundary. 3.The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more complete logical unitsare defined according to page boundaries.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the plurality of processing elements include map/reduce jobs ofa map/reduce platform.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the documentincludes a non-sequential data type.
 6. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: extracting resource information for one or more sharedresources from the document, wherein extracting resource information forthe one or more shared resources comprises severing each link betweenthe one or more shared resources and one or more resource pointers inthe document.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein boundaries of completelogical units are indicated by a schema corresponding to the format ofthe document.